You and I both heard the military guys on this board say that the deployments and movements are coordinated at higher levels, based on the CONPLAN or OPLAN - which comes directly from the decisions of the CINC and SecDef (who is appointed by the CINC). The specific deployments and movements to implement those directives from the CINC are decided by the higher commanders and plugged into the computer system, from which the lower commanders print out the results and get them to the individuals who will deploy.
If only you and the military guys in question actually read Lakin's charge sheet.